DreamWorks
For the bulk of every Rocky and Bullwinkle episode, moose and squirrel would engage in high concept escapades that satirized geopolitics, contemporary cinema, and the very fabrics of the human condition. With all of that to work with, there's no excuse for why the pair and their Soviet nemeses haven't gotten a decent movie adaptation. But the ingenious Mr. Peabody and his faithful boy Sherman are another story, intercut between Rocky and Bullwinkle segments to teach kids brief history lessons and toss in a nearly lethal dose of puns. Their stories and relationship were much simpler, which means that bringing their shtick to the big screen would entail a lot more invention — always risky when you're dealing with precious material.
For the most part, Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman handles the regeneration of its heroes aptly, allowing for emotionally substance in their unique father-son relationship and all the difficulties inherent therein. The story is no subtle metaphor for the difficulties surrounding gay adoption, with society decreeing that a dog, no matter how hyper-intelligent, cannot be a suitable father. The central plot has Peabody hosting a party for a disapproving child services agent and the parents of a young girl with whom 7-year-old Sherman had a schoolyard spat, all in order to prove himself a suitable dad. Of course, the WABAC comes into play when the tots take it for a spin, forcing Peabody to rush to their rescue.
Getting down to personals, we also see the left brain-heavy Peabody struggle with being father Sherman deserves. The bulk of the emotional marks are hit as we learn just how much Peabody cares for Sherman, and just how hard it has been to accept that his only family is growing up and changing.
DreamWorks
But more successful than the new is the film's handling of the old — the material that Peabody and Sherman purists will adore. They travel back in time via the WABAC Machine to Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance, and the Trojan War, and 18th Century France, explaining the cultural backdrop and historical significance of the settings and characters they happen upon, all with that irreverent (but no longer racist) flare that the old cartoons enjoyed. And oh... the puns.
Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman is a f**king treasure trove of some of the most amazingly bad puns in recent cinema. This effort alone will leave you in awe.
The film does unravel in its final act, bringing the science-fiction of time travel a little too close to the forefront and dropping the ball on a good deal of its emotional groundwork. What seemed to be substantial building blocks do not pay off in the way we might, as scholars of animated family cinema, have anticipated, leaving the movie with an unfinished feeling.
But all in all, it's a bright, compassionate, reasonably educational, and occasionally funny if not altogether worthy tribute to an old favorite. And since we don't have our own WABAC machine to return to a time of regularly scheduled Peabody and Sherman cartoons, this will do okay for now.
If nothing else, it's worth your time for the puns.
3/5
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Lions Gate via Everett Collection
When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
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The new fall pilots haven't even premiered yet, but already the networks are looking forward to their next big task: finding the right pilots and scripts to order for the 2013-2014 season. Development season is well underway and has been for the past few weeks — although this season is marked by a declaration from some networks (namely ABC and NBC) that the typically order-happy suits would not be as quick to bulk up their pilot orders this year. In other words, less is more.
Most of the majors have already made their first-round choices for specific projects, and the trends that have emerged seem to be all about big-name attachments (e.g. Vince Vaughn, Jodie Foster, Ryan Reynolds), period dramas (e.g. Aztec empire, Cold War America, 1890s Europe), international transplants (from Israel, England and Scandinavia) and — in an interestingly-revived yet well-worn trend — book adaptations (including Dracula and two Sleepy Hollow reboots).
Here's what ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, NBC and more have coming down the '13-'14 pipeline so far:
ABC
— Dumb F*ck: Single-camera comedy about an average Joe and his brilliant wife who move in with her intelligent yet emotionally stunted family of geniuses; written by Hank Nelken (Saving Silverman), executive produced by Vin Di Bona, Bruce Gersh, Susan Levison and Shaleen Desai.
— Burns &amp; Cooley: Medical procedural about two New York neurosurgeons who compete as they strive to be the top in all aspects of their lives; written by Meredith Philpott (Awkward), exec produced by Matt Gross (Body Of Proof).
— Founding Fathers: Drama about a war veteran whose Texas hometown is in the hands of a militia group led by his older brother; written by Rich D'Ovidio (Thir13en Ghosts), produced by Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Dan McDermott.
— Untitled McG Project: Retelling of Romeo and Juliet, revolving around two rival families fighting for control over Venice, California; written by Byron Balasco (Detroit 1-8-7), produced by McG (The OC, Supernatural, Nikita).
— Untitled Kurtzman/Orci Project: Drama about a mysterious game; written by Noah Hawley (The Unusuals), produced by Heather Kadin, Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci.
NBC
— Dracula: 1890s-set period piece about the iconic vampire; written by Cole Haddon, produced by Tony Krantz and Colin Callender; starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors).
— The Blacklist: Drama about an international criminal who surrenders himself and helps the government hunt down his former cohorts; written by Jon Bokenkamp, exec produced by John Davis, John Fox and John Eisendrath.
— Hench: Based on the comic about a man who becomes a temp for super villains; written by Alexandra Cunningham (Desperate Housewives), exec produced by Peter Berg and Sarah Aubrey (Prime Suspect).
— Cleopatra: Period drama about the Egyptian queen Cleopatra; written by Michael Seitzman (Americana), exec produced by Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Dan McDermott.
— Pariah: Drama inspired by Freakonomics about a rogue academic who uses economic theory to police San Diego; written by Kevin Fox (The Negotiator), exec produced by Kelsey Grammer, Stella Stolper and Brian Sher.
— After Hours/The Last Stand: Medical drama about Army doctors who work the night shift at a San Antonio hospital; revisited from last season; written by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah.
— Untitled Parkes/MacDonald Project: Drama about an interpreter at the United Nations who works with diplomats and politicians from around the world; written by Tom Brady (Hell on Wheels), produced by Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Ted Gold.
— Untitled Charmelo/Snyder Project: New Orleans-set drama, described as a "sexy Southern Gothic thriller"; created by Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder (Ringer), exec produced by Peter Traugott and Rachel Kaplan.
— Untitled Rand Ravich Project: Drama-thriller following a secret service agent at the center of an international crisis in Washington, DC; created by Rand Ravich (Life), produced by Far Shariat.
CBS
— Island Practice: Based on the book Island Practice: Cobblestone Rash, Underground Tom, and Other Adventures Of A Nantucket Doctor, about an eccentric doctor with a controversial medical practice on an island off the coast of Washington; written by Amy Holden Jones (Mystic Pizza, Beethoven), produced by Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo and Oly Obst.
— The Brady Bunch: Reboot of the series, about a divorced Bobby Brady who re-marries a woman with children of her own; written by Mike Mariano (Raising Hope), co-developed and exec produced by Vince Vaughn (Sullivan &amp; Son).
— A Welcome Grave: Based on the book series about a private investigator who comes under suspicion when a rival turns up dead.
— Backstrom: Based on the book series about a House-like detective who tries to change his self-destructive nature; written by Hart Hanson (Bones), produced by Leif G.W. Persson (novel) and Niclas Salomonsson.
— Ex-Men: Single-camera comedy about a young guy who moves into a short-term rental complex and befriends the other men who live there after being kicked out by their wives; written and directed by Rob Greenberg; starring Chris Smith and Kal Penn.
The CW
— Sleepy Hollow: Contemporary reinterpretation of the Sleepy Hollow short story; written by Patrick Macmanus and Grant Scharbo, produced by Scharbo and Gina Matthews.
FOX
— Gun Machine: Based on an upcoming novel (of the same name) about a New York detective whose chance discovery of a stash of guns leads back to a variety of unsolved murders; written by Dario Scardapane (Trauma), produced by Warren Ellis (book author), Scardapane, Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope.
— Sleepy Hollow: Modern-day thriller based on the Sleepy Hollow short story, following Ichabod Crane and a female sheriff who solve supernatural mysteries; written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Fringe, Hawaii Five-0) and Phillip Iscove, produced by Heather Kadin and Len Wiseman.
— The Beach: Based on the 1996 novel and 2000 movie about a group of youths who try to start society over on a remote paradise; written by Andrew Miller (The Secret Circle).
— Hard Up: Single-camera comedy based on Israeli series about four twentysomething guys who are strapped for cash; written by Etan Frankel (Shameless), produced by John Wells.
— Lowe Rollers: Animated comedy about a struggling Titanic-themed casino in Las Vegas; written by Mark Torgove and Paul Kaplan (Outsourced) and Ash Brannon, produced by Ryan Reynolds, Jonathon Komack Martin, Steven Pearl and Allan Loeb.
— Untitled Chris Levinson Project: Cop drama about a detective who puts his life under surveillance when he begins to lose his memory; written by Chris Levinson (Touch), produced by Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope.
— Untitled Friend/Lerner Project: Drama set on an aircraft carrier following young naval officers and a female fighter pilot who tries to solve an onboard murder; written and produced by Russel Friend and Garrett Lerner (House).
— Untitled Ryan Reynolds Project: Half-hour comedy about a disgraced hotelier forced to manage a rundown airport hotel; written by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay (Clash of the Titans), produced by Ryan Reynolds, Allan Loeb, Jonathon Komack Martin and Steven Pearl.
— Untitled Jason Katims Project: Romantic comedy about a single female attorney; written by Jason Katims (Parenthood, Friday Night Lights) and Sarah Watson.
HBO
— Getting On: U.S. adaptation of a British comedy about a group of nurses and doctors working in a women's geriatric wing of a run-down hospital; Big Love creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer to exec produce with Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner and Geoff Atkinson.
— Buda Bridge: Belgian-set crime drama about a woman who is found dead on a famous bridge in Brussels; written and directed by Michael R. Roskam (Bullhead), produced by Michael Mann (Luck) and Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad).
— Hello Ladies: Comedy about an oddball Englishman who chases women in Los Angeles; written, directed by and starring Stephen Merchant (The Office), produced by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (The Office).
SHOWTIME
— Angie's Body: Drama about a powerful woman at the head of a crime family; written by Rob Fresco (Heroes, Jericho), directed and executive produced by Jodie Foster, Fresco and Russ Krasnoff.
— Conquest: Period drama about Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, who clashes with the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II; written by Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries), produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo.
AMC
— Low Winter Sun: Based on 2006 British miniseries about the aftermath that follows the murder of a cop by a fellow detective; written by Chris Mundy; James Ransone, Ruben Santiago Hudson and Athena Karkanis to star.
— Those Who Kill: Based on Danish series about a detective and forensics scientist who track down serial killers; written by Glen Morgan, produced by Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo, Peter Bose and Jonas Allen, directed by Joe Carnahan.
— Untitled LaGravenese/Goldwyn Project: Legal thriller about an attorney who discovers new evidence that re-opens a sensational murder case; written by Richard LaGravenese, directed by Tony Goldwyn, exec produced by David Manson; Marin Ireland to star as female lead.
FX
— The Americans: Period drama about two KGB spies posing as Americans in Washington, DC; created by Joe Weisberg, exec produced by Weisberg, Graham Yost, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey; directed by Gavin O'Connor; Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys and Noah Emmerich to star.
— The Bridge: Based on the Scandinavian series, about a murder investigation opened up after a dead body is discovered on a bridge connecting the United States and Mexico; written by Meredith Stiehm and Elwood Reid (Cold Case), produced by Carolyn Bernstein, Lars Blomgren and Jane Featherstone.
— Untitled Dr. Dre Project: One-hour drama about music and crime in Los Angeles; written by Sidney Quashie, exec produced by Dr. Dre.
Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcSnetiker
[Photo Credit: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, The CW]

Do the Bourne movies make any sense? Enough. The first three films — The Bourne Identity Supremacy and Ultimatum — throw in just enough detail into the covert ops babble and high-speed action that by the end Jason Bourne comes out an emotional character with an evident mission. That's where Bourne Legacy drops the ball. A "sidequel" to the original trilogy Legacy follows super soldier Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) as he runs jumps and shoots his way out of the hands of his government captors. The film is identical to its predecessors; political intrigue chase scenes morally ambiguous CIA agents monitoring their man-on-the-run from a computer-filled HQ — a Bourne movie through and through. But Legacy has to dig deeper to find new ground to cover introducing elements of sci-fi into the equation. The result is surprisingly limp and even more incomprehensible.
Damon's Bourne spent three blockbusters uncovering his past erased by the assassin training program Treadstone. Renner's Alex Cross has a similar do-or-die mission: after Bourne's antics send Washington into a tizzy Cross' own training program Outcome is terminated. Unlike Bourne Cross is enhanced by "chems" (essentially steroid drugs) that keep him alive and kicking ass. When Outcome is ended Cross goes rogue to stay alive and find more pills.
Steeped heavily in the plot lines of the established mythology Bourne Legacy jumps back and forth between Cross and the clean up job of the movie's big bad (Edward Norton) and his elite squad of suits. The movie balances a lot of moving parts but the adventure never feels sprawling or all that exciting. Actress Rachel Weisz vibrant in nearly every role she takes on plays a chemist who is key to Cross' chemical woes. The two are forced into partnership Weisz limited to screaming cowering and sneaking past the occasional airport x-ray machine while her partner aggressively fistfights his way through any hurdle in his path. Renner is equally underserved. Cross is tailored to the actor's strengths — a darker more aggressive character than Damon's Bourne but with one out of every five of the character's lines being "CHEMS!" shouted at the top of his lungs Renner never has the time or the material to develop him.
Writer/director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton Duplicity and the screenwriter of the previous three movies) is a master of dense language but his style choices can't breath life into the 21st century epic speak. In the film's necessary car chase Gilroy mimics the loose camera style of Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass without fully embracing it. The wishy washy approach sucks the life out of large-scale set pieces. The final 30 minutes of Bourne Legacy is a shaky cam naysayer's worst nightmare.
The Bourne Legacy demonstrates potential without ever kicking into high gear. One scene when Gilroy finally slows down and unleashes absolute terror on screen is striking. Unfortunately the moment doesn't involve our hero and its implications never explained. That sums up Legacy; by the film's conclusion it only feels like the first hour has played out. The movie crawls — which would be much more forgivable if the intense banter between its large ensemble carried weight. Instead Legacy packs the thrills of an airport thriller: sporadically entertaining and instantly forgettable.
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Here at Under the Radar, our traditional modus operandi is to help spread the word about one up-and-coming actor/actress appearing in one of that week’s theatrical releases with whom you should get better acquainted. This week however, there are a plethora of new releases featuring scores of talented performers all right on the cusp of mega-stardom so it was difficult to narrow the field to just one. We have therefore put together a list of the top five names we think you should know at the multiplex this week.
Justin Theroux (Wanderlust)
Wanderlust is the story of a high maintenance New York couple who, upon losing both of their jobs, decide to move to a hippie commune as a drastic change of pace. With the leads being occupied by Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, it would be easy to overlook one Justin Theroux. But Justin is a wonderful actor, someone you’ll definitely want to get to know even if you don’t immediately recognize him. He’s had recurring roles on Parks &amp; Recreation, the HBO miniseries John Adams, and Six Feet Under as well as appearing in films such as Your Highness, Mulholland Drive, and American Psycho. In addition to his talent in front of the camera, Justin also wrote the screenplays to Iron Man 2 and Tropic Thunder.
Jennifer Carpenter (Gone)
If you find yourself sitting in the theater watching Gone this weekend and trying to place where you’ve seen Jennifer Carpenter before, more than likely you caught her on the wildly successfully Showtime series Dexter. She plays the police officer sister of a Miami forensics expert who also happens to be a serial murderer of…serial murderers (among other criminal elements). Another impressive credit on Carpenter’s resume 2005 film The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The film centers on a lawyer who takes on the case of a priest whose attempt to exorcise a demonic presence from a young girl went horribly awry. Her performance in that film is nothing less than spellbinding.
Brian White (Good Deeds)
Brian White will be lighting up screens this weekend in the latest Tyler Perry film Good Deeds. White is an actor of whom I became a huge fan during his stint on the incredible FX series The Shield. On the show, White plays a hardnosed cop who gets assigned to the dark, morally nebulous strike team headed by Vic Mackey; mixing up the group’s longstanding dynamic and serving as the catalyst for the biggest shocker of the second season. He also appeared in Rian Johnson’s phenomenal neo-noir Brick and is set to co-star in Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods; my most highly anticipated movie of 2012. I am really interested to see where this guy’s career takes him.
Ken Marino (Wanderlust)
As Wanderlust is directed by David Wain, the appearance of actor Ken Marino is not a surprise. The two have been constant collaborators going all the way back to the MTV sketch comedy series The State from the mid-90s. Marino also appeared in Wain’s films Wet Hot American Summer and Role Models (also starring Paul Rudd). But if you really want to get a taste of Marino’s comic genius, I highly recommend a short-lived series called Party Down. On the show, Marino plays the owner of a catering company staffed almost entirely by people who would rather be doing anything other than catering. Marino also co-wrote both Wanderlust and Role Models.
Sebastian Stan (Gone)
One of the best things that can happen to a young actor anymore is landing a role, even a supporting role, in a comic book film. Sebastian Stan, who will be appearing in this week’s kidnapping thriller Gone, managed just such a feat when he played Bucky Barnes, the best friend of weakling-turned-super-soldier Steve Rodgers, in Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger. I loved Stan as Bucky—he made us all fall in love with that character. In addition to appearing in a Marvel film, Stan was fortunate enough to work with world-renowned director Darren Aronofsky in the sinister, but artful Black Swan. He also made the perfect, textbook 80's bully in 2010’s meta comedy Hot Tub Time Machine.

Four times a year – in February, May, July, and November – television networks make sure to churn out their best quality episodes with shock, cliffhangers, or some good old fashioned stunt casting. We see all this in the name of Nielson TV ratings research diaries to better show advertisers what they are paying for and what they want to be paying for. To the average viewer, it just means the possibility of a cast’s family vacation, or weird dream-sequence episode (like the time Roseanne fantasized about murdering her entire family just so she could have more time to herself on Season 2 Roseanne). It could mean particularly violent on-goings during some of your favorite shows, such as Zeljko Ivanek dropping by for a guest appearance on House in which he holds the entire hospital hostage so that he can get treatment. And it’s all in the name of Nielsen.
Founded in the 1920s by market analyst, Arthur Nielsen, the Nielsen Media Research company expanded from radio to television in the 1950s. In 1954, Nielsen mailed ratings booklets to households across the country and asked viewers to record everything they watched for a week. Obviously, computers take over the task of recording viewership now, but the concept of sweeps is still the same. Often times, plotlines are forsaken for wild-eyed programming that will hopefully ensnare more viewers; remember E.R.’s live episode in 1997 or Ellen DeGeneres coming out of the closet on “The Puppy Episode” of Ellen during May sweeps?
So the question remains, who will join the ranks of some of November TV’s most memorable - or infamous - episodes like The Twilight Zone’s “Time Enough at Last,” Married…with Children’s “A Period Piece,” Family Guy’s “Stewie Kills Lois,” or How I Met Your Mother’s “Slap Bet?”
Glee Sexes Things Up
Fox already got heavy fire from concerned parents for its sweeps episode of Glee, titled ”The First Time,” which featured Kurt and Blaine and Rachel and Finn's first times - no, not all together, then the angry viewers might actually have a gripe. But as per usual on Glee, the controversy wasn't much to sneeze at, safe sex is stressed throughout the episode and the scenes involving the couples’ first times were more touching (no pun intended) than Skinemax. As for the episode itself? It was actually not all that different from the usual disjointed, odd-ball, quirky hour of Gleekdom. I actually thought it was more controversial for a musical show like this one to barely feature West Side Story, which was the play the kids were performing.
Guest Stars As Far As The Eye Can See
Guest stars galore showed up for Modern Family's November 2 show, “Treehouse.” The tried and true stunt casting of high profile stars has worked for MF before (see: Edward Norton, Matt Dillon), and this episode was no different. Leslie Mann stops by as a hot girl Cam is trying to pick up at a bar, thanks to a dare from Mitchell. Meanwhile, Jay's highly fashionable friend, Shorty (Chazz Palminteri) shows up with Jennifer Tilly (who never gets enough credit) as his girlfriend, Darlene. Gloria is jealous of all to the things Shorty and Darlene do as a couple and makes Jay step it up for a night of salsa dancing. Modern Family is consistently the best comedy on television (it did win back-to-back Emmys for Best Comedy, after all), and “Treehouse” succeeded at what a great sweeps episode, or any episode can and should be. And with Jay high on placebo ecstasy, the series showed the world (again) why Ed O'Neil deserves an Emmy. The episode saw world of Modern Family expanded with more great, kooky characters, and we really need to see more of Shorty and Darlene.
Over at our favorite fledgling Peacock, Nov. 19’s Saturday Night Live looks to really bring out the sweeps magic with host Jason Segel and musical guest Florence and the Machine. Recapping So You Think You Can Dance over the summer gave me an appreciation for the British pop band and their hit, “Cosmic Love.” The band is heading to Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center to perform its new single, “Shake it Out.” More importantly, SNL is being hosted by the most reliably funny man in recent comedy history for the first time! Segel has impressed plenty of comedy fans since Freaks and Geeks and his brand of humor and physical comedy continues to be infectious. For the first time in a long time, I will actually be watching Saturday Night Live.
Thursday, November 24, for the first time in a long time (that's twice now in one column), a brand-new Peanuts special is coming to TV. “Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown” comes to Fox and as the name suggests, the special will focus on Linus and his addiction to the world's most famous security blanket. There are TV specials galore as well during sweeps week to try and grab as many ratings as possible. Joining Snoopy and pals will be everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving Day parade, an all–new Ice Age special. Perhaps the oddest Thanksgiving special ever will be this year when Katie Couric interviews Lady Gaga as part of A Very Gaga Thanksgiving. This girl won’t be happy until she has invaded every facet of pop culture, will she?
Fox also saw Justin Long drop by New Girl as a music teacher Jess is crushing on; Jess invites him over for Turkey-Day dinner in these week's episode. After the adorkable New Girl, the Six-Million Dollar Man, Lee Majors, and Mrs. Partridge, Shirley Jones, played Burt's wealthy parents on Raising Hope. Greg Garcia, creator of Raising Hope has always looked to the past for great guest stars (Burt Reynolds on My Name Is Earl comes to mind), and it's great to see the tradition continue.
Other guest-stars on our favorite shows are 70s sexpot, Morgan Fairchild on Bones; reclusive stand-up comic, Norm MacDonald on The Middle; Queen of Mean, Lisa Lampenelli, on Whitney; comic book and fantasy author Neil Gaiman and actor Andy Garcia on The Simpsons; and Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, gets animated on American Dad.
Gearing Up For Finales
Sometimes shows don't rely on guest-stars for sweeps, instead they take the time as an opportunity to build drama for season finales. Case in point: last week's Sons of Anarchy, which was the culmination of many things that have been building all season and the commencement of tearing everything down as the show draws close to its sure-to-be shattering season finale. Another trope of sweeps is the extended episode, which the Sons had this past week: 90 minutes of high octane instead of the usual 60.
This next episode isn’t a finale, but a farewell. In a strange way, the Regis Philbin’s farewell episode on Nov. 18 might garner the most ratings of any of these shows. After all, he’s been a talk show fixture since 1964 when he took over the Westinghouse Tonight Show hosting duties when Steve Allen left. Since 1985, Philbin and his very vanilla, but still entertaining antics, has been a part of many a couch potatoes morning. Despite most of us having day jobs, Live! with Regis and Kelly still enjoys high ratings. If you’re not satisfied with Regis’ leaving and its possibility for high ratings, then check out Live! with Kelly on Nov. 21 – 23 when Jerry Seinfeld takes on guest hosting responsibilities; leave it to Seinfeld to earn the most anticipated guest star slot of the season without being on any primetime shows. Three days of Seinfeld in the morning not good enough of you? How about Nov. 28 – Dec. 2 which will see an entire week of NPH joining Ripa in the morning.
Even though we get some fun, and often times odd, TV from it, are these Nielsen Sweeps even necessary anymore? There are at least five different ways to watch our favorite shows and I don’t think I’ve seen a commercial in months thanks to Netflix, DVR, and my iPad. Then again, sweeps have always been a big waste of time unless you have a Nielsen box or you’re a Don Draper-style (M)ad-man. I suppose as long as it keeps stirring up good TV like last night’s hysterical New Girl episode or the past two weeks of That 70’s (Two and a Half) Men Show , then keep the good times rolling. After all, the ratings-grabbing episodes are there for just that, to get ratings. As for me, thanks to Segel hosting SNL, I’ll be watching that show for the first time in about ten years, which means they count me down for a rating notch.
Do you think sweeps month is still relevant? Do you even care or did you ever? Are you happy with some of the more outrageous antics of our favorite TV characters during sweeps months? Sound off in the comments.

S3E7:In general, this week’s Modern Family is stacked with high highs and low lows, and balances out to a slight step up from the series’ recent output. It offers a better-than-average Jay/Gloria story and a worse-than-average Claire/Haley story. As always, Phil and Luke are gold. But the thing that resonates most in “Treehouse” is the show’s insistence on using Cam’s homosexuality as a punchline.
“If you let me keep that hang glider, those geese would have followed me to the wetlands.” – Phil
“You would have died.” – Claire
“A hero.” – Phil
Claire starts out the episode in her normal state of frustration with her family. Phil is up to very Philish hijinks: building a treehouse as a (very) thinly veiled attempt to recapture his lost youth. But the main problem: Haley is having trouble with her college essay (a running theme in the series). Haley’s dilemma stems from a lack of hardship in her life. Instead of employing introspection or anything else that Haley has probably never heard of, she complains about how easy her life has been and blames this lack of real experience on her mother. Claire responds by tricking Haley into taking a car ride with her somewhere outside of the neighborhood and then leaving her without a phone or money to get home on her own (the perfect fodder for her essay). The problem with this storyline is: we don’t actually see Haley getting home. In between her abandonment and her frazzled storming through the front door, we see or hear nothing from Haley or Claire. This could have been a comic goldmine, and possibly some interesting character development (okay, maybe just a comic goldmine). But instead, the episode opts for some catty remarks between the Dunphy women that make the whole plot seem useless.
“I could totally be a womanizer.” – Cam
“Or you could be someone who just stepped out of a machine called The Womanizer.” – Mitchell
The plot complexity is at least a step above the Lucy-Ricky squabbles that Cam and Mitchell were having for a few weeks: Cam wants to prove himself capable of “passing for straight,” so he hits on a woman at a bar (Leslie Mann), but worries that he has taken it too far when she wants to see him again. My issues with this storyline are detailed in my introduction. Throughout the episode, as you might imagine, there are a ton of jokes about Cam’s sexuality, many of which structured around what his being a gay man “must” indicate about him. Now, I’m not certain whether or not I’m being too sensitive here. Cam’s homosexuality is not being treated with malice—this is something of which the show is never guilty. But when Mitchell, a character we’re supposed to consider intelligent and likeable, attributes Cam’s supposed fragility to his being gay, it seems harmful. Especially since, as a gay man himself, Mitchell acts as sort of an authority on what it is “okay” to think about gay men. Of course, no one individual can be an authority on what it is okay to say about any group of people, whether he belongs to said group or not, but television characters do assume these roles in the eyes of their viewers. Thus, I think it a little irresponsible to have Mitchell tossing around stereotypes in such a generalizing fashion. I won’t say a few of the more clever jokes didn’t work, primarily thanks to Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s delivery. But this is something with which the show needs to be careful.
“Honey! The dude in the tree is cool!” – Andre
The Jay/Gloria storyline is both benign and forgettable, so I’ll gloss over it for the most part: Gloria thinks Jay is boring and passionless because he won’t take her out salsa dancing like returning character Shorty (Chazz Palminteri) does with his ladyfriend Darlene (Jennifer Tilly, who is as Jennifer Tilly as ever in this role). The truth is: Jay can’t dance, and is self-conscious about this. First, he asks Manny to teach him, but this amounts to naught. So, he takes a “drug” offered to him by Mitchell to loosen up—success. Of course, the drug is a placebo (Baby Aspirin), but anyone who knows Mitchell should guess this right away. Moving right along to what is, unsurprisingly, my favorite part of the episode: the Phil/Luke story.
The magic duo has both minimal screen time and a lack of particularly memorable lines, but their characters are so much more rich than anything else on the show. Phil forces a vacant Luke into the exploit of building a treehouse. In truth, Phil is feeling like he has lost his youth and no longer has the sort of friendships he did when he was a child who could just call to the other neighborhood kids to run out and play. It’s actually legitimately sad when Phil begins to reveal his true intentions. Eventually, Luke bails on Phil out of frustration—and a sense of doom surrounding the project—leaving his dad stuck up in the tree. But Phil catches the eye of a neighbor, Andre (Kevin Hart), who, despite having lived right over the fence for eight years, has never met Phil. It’s a somewhat touching moment when Phil realizes he is not actually the man-without-a-country he assumed himself to be. Andre is in the same boat: he immediately jumps onboard with the treehouse project, channeling the same sensibilities Phil had when he pioneered it. The episode closes with a promise of Phil/Andre storylines to come, which seems like good material for comedy. Two adult Phils is even more destructive than one, and this might free Luke up to spread some of his glory to another pairing. Manny perhaps? I’ve always appreciated the two of them working together.
I am still a bit torn on the Cam/Mitchell issue. Am I missing the point of all these gay jokes? Are they simply there to illustrate affable characters with human flaws, living a funny but normal lifestyle? I’m not unwilling to accept that I might be simply not getting it, but it seems to be that the show is just taking the easy route to comedy, at the expense of a value it claims to embrace.

And now for something completely different: Hollywood.com's Best of Seven, wherein I read this week's TV Guide so you don't have to! You're welcome. Monday 8PM: The Bachelorette, ABC. In this week's episode, Ali drags her three remaining captives to Tahiti, where the poor men - now exhibiting full-blown, textbook Stockholm Syndrome - continue to vie for the bachelorette's heart. Competitive frolicking, sailing, and nuzzling are just some of the embarrassments to which these tragically confused men must subject themselves to earn their master's favor. 9PM: Kung Fu Hustle, Spike. The legendary Stephen Chow produced, directs, and stars in this hilarious and special-effects laden martial-arts epic, which remains the highest grossing film of all time in Hong Kong. Chow plays a wannabe gangster who unintentionally precipitates a war between the Axe Gang and the the mysteriously gifted residents of a nearby housing complex, all the while unlocking his own true kung-fu powers. 10PM: True Beauty, ABC. While I can't honestly vouche for this reality-show, in which contestants are unaware that they are actually being judged (and eliminated) based on their secretly recorded "off-camera" behavior, this is the season finale. So, if you are curious what the show is all about, this looks to be your last opportunity to do so. Tuesday 8PM: Signs, Encore. Enjoy a two-for-one serving of delicious shadenfreude with this 2002 thriller, starring anti-Semitic, racist hate-monster Mel Gibson, as well as America's most forsaken director, M. Night Shyamalan (who I personally believe deserves another chance). This alien-invasion thriller may well be the last project that either men worked on that was both enjoyable and well-received. Remember the good times! Also starring enigmatic Hollywood outcast Joaquin Phoenix. Wednesday 9PM: Modern Family, ABC. Yes, it's summer and it's a re-run, but it never hurts to return to a show like Modern Family to remember why it got all those Emmy nominations. In "Fears," Phil is afraid of the dark space underneath the porch, Haley is afraid of her driving test, and Mitchell and Cameron's worst nightmare comes to life when their adopted baby's first word is "Mommy." 10PM: Work of Art: The Search for the Next Great Artist, Bravo. I continue to be surprised by how entertaining this show is. I think it has something to do with the fact that the contestants, being artists (and not fame-whores), are so refreshingly different than our usual reality-TV personalities. In "Child's Play," the artists "find themselves in the Children's Museum of the Arts, filled with finger paint portraits and crayon collections. Their challenge is to create a work that is symbolic of the moment their artistic expression began, using only kid friendly materials to create an adult masterpiece." 11PM: Mr. And Mrs. Smith, FX. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have great on-screen chemistry in this 2005 romantic-action-thriller, about a married couple in a rut whose passion is reignited when they both discover that the other is a world-class assassin. Adam Brody and Vince Vaughn also show up at various points and this is likewise amusing. Thursday 8PM: Community, NBC. The Thursday-night lineup at NBC is comedy gold! Even though they're summer re-runs, you can't go wrong with an episode like "Interpretive Dance," followed by 30 Rock at 8:30 (the very funny "Anna Howard Shaw Day" episode). 6PM-Midnight: Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Travel Channel. The equal-parts charming, foul-mouthed, and hard-drinking Anthony Bourdain travels to Ecuador, Uruguay, Australia, Liberia, and South Korea to sample the native cuisine and yuk it up with the locals in this 6-hour No Reservations block. Friday 7PM: Seinfeld, TBS. Check out the somewhat controversial, hour-long season finale of Seinfeld, for which creator Larry David returned to write. After NBC picks up Jerry and George's sitcom, the whole gang gets arrested for breaking the "good Samaritan law." 7:30PM: Scarface, BET. Al Pacino turns in his most memorable role as Tony Montana (in Brian De Palma's violent 1983 remake of the 1932 original) as a Cuban exile who builds a cocaine-fueled, organized-crime empire in Florida. Saturday 6:30PM: Juno, USA. Before Ellen Page was in Inception, she was just a snarky-but-lovable teen, knocked up by the oft-bumbling Michael Cera. If you haven't seen it, this 2007 "indie" movie is a real winner. 8PM: Collateral, TNT. Tom Cruise plays a psychopathic serial killer all too convincingly in this exciting 2004 thriller from the eminent Michael Mann. Jamie Foxx plays a taxi cab driver who gets in way over his head when he picks up an assassin (Cruise) who has several stops to make before the night is over. 9PM: Bourne Identity, FX. Do you ever feel like this movie is on TV all the time? I think that's because it is. But it doesn't matter because the Bourne series (starring Matt Damon as our titular amnesiac assassin) is good enough to warrant repeat viewings. Go ahead, it's summer! Sunday 7PM: Dazed and Confused, G4. Richard Linklater's nostalgic reflection on the youth culture of 1976 is one of the greatest "high school" movies of our time, even if the kids are barely ever in school. "Set on the last day of the academic year, the film follows the random activities of a sprawling group of Texas high schoolers (including a young Ben Affleck, and Matthew McConaughey in his break-out role) as they celebrate the arrival of summer, their paths variously intersecting at a freshmen hazing, a local pool parlor and finally at a keg party." 10:30PM: Childrens' Hospital, Cartoon Network. Adult Swim recently began airing episodes of this web series, a parody of the medical show genre, created by and starring Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine).

A phenomenal marketing campaign that had the Bruno name and likeness virtually everywhere paid off huge as the film earned an expectation busting $30,426,240 in 2,756 theaters. This eclipses the $26.5 million debut of Borat, which opened in just 837 theaters in November of 2006. Star Sacha Baron Cohen was a one-man marketing machine who stayed in character and traveled the world as the "Austrian gay fashionista," thus engendering a massive curiosity on the part of the audience. Not to mention a hilariously effective trailer that had people buzzing both on and off the internet. A multi-tiered marketing blitz, coupled with a great release date made Bruno a hit with audiences, giving it two enthusiastic "Vassups!"
In second place with $28.5 million is Fox’s Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which dropped a nominal 32 percent in its second weekend, crossing the $120 million mark. The PG-rated animated film is a favorite for families looking for a nice day at the theater.
In third is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which has now become the highest-grossing film released this year and the first to cross the $300 million mark. With its sights set firmly on the $350 million mark, the film earned $24 million this weekend and its cumulative domestic total is nearing the $340 million mark. This is yet another amazing weekend performance from this summer juggernaut.
Fourth place belongs to Johnny Depp in Public Enemies as the Michael Mann-directed period crime drama earns $14.1 million against a 44 percent second weekend drop. Look for the next milestone at the $75 million mark as its current total after two weekends in release is over $66 million.
Rounding out the top five is Disney’s perennial comedy The Proposal with $10.5 million in its fourth strong weekend of release as this date-crowd favorite that now stands at $113.8 million and counting with a micro-drop of just 18 percent.
The sixth place film, Warner Bros.' The Hangover had the smallest drop of any film on the top 12 chart with a weekend gross of $9.93 million and, wait for it ... a 12 percent drop in its sixth weekend! This R-rated comedy lives in a perpetual box-office Happy Hour and has $222.4 million in the tip jar to prove it. Amazing!
A "down" weekend at the nation’s theaters, but not enough to put a dent in our year-to-date and summer-to-date advantages as we look toward the onslaught that is Potter-mania next week.
THREE-DAY ESTIMATES:
1. NEW! Bruno (Universal) - $30.4M; 2756 theaters; $11,040 PTA
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox) - $28.5M; 4102 theaters; $6,948 PTA; -32%; $120.5M cume
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount/Dreamworks) - $24.2M; 4293 theaters; $5,590 PTA; -43%; $339.2M cume
4. Public Enemies (Universal) - $14.1M; 3336 theaters; $4,230 PTA; -44%; $66.5M cume
5. The Proposal (Disney) - $10.5M; 3158 theaters; $3,327 PTA; -18%; $113.7M cume
6. The Hangover (Warner Bros.) - $9.9M; 3002 theaters; $3,308 PTA; -12%; $222.4M cume
7. NEW! I Love You, Beth Cooper (Fox) - $5M; 1858 theaters; $2,691 PTA
8. Up (Disney) - $4.6M; 2201 theaters; $2,115 PTA, -29%; $273.7M cume
9. My Sister's Keeper (Warner Bros.) - $4.1M; 2444 theaters; $1,710 PTA; -28%; $35.8M cume
10. The Taking of Pelham 123 (Sony/Columbia) - $1.6M; 1116 theaters; $1,434 PTA; -37%; $61.5M cume
MORE BOX OFFICE:
LAST WEEK'S B.O.: Ice Age Dinosaurs and Transformers Locked in a Tie!

UPDATE: The tie is broken! Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is number one with $42.4 million, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is number two with $41.6 million.
Continue reading Sunday's recap ...
This was the first in the Ice Age franchise to open on a Wednesday, earning a whopping $67.5 million in the five days since and $42.5 million for the weekend. Despite the fact that Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the lowest debut for the Ice Age brand, it was still enough to grab a potential first place in an incredibly competitive marketplace beset with transforming robots, machine-gun wielding sociopaths, Sandra Bullock, seriously hung-over guys and an old man and a kid in a flying house.
Tied for first with $42.5 million is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which in the wake of a massive $109 million first weekend and a 61 percent drop, still managed to give all the other films a run for their money and potentially grab first place for the second consecutive week. After just 12 days of release, the film is already the highest-grossing film of 2009 with $293.5 million in domestic box-office dollars.
In third is Universal’s period crime drama, Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard, directed by Michael Mann. The film earned $26.1 million for the weekend and $41 million in loot since its Wednesday debut. The adult-themed drama performed well for a film with appeal to older, more sophisticated audiences and wound up in the box-office sweet spot where it needed to be.
In fourth is the Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds rom-com The Proposal, which added another $12.8 million to the dowry, closing in on $100 million in domestic bliss revenue. With a modest budget and audiences continuing to feel the love, the film dropped a modest 31 percent in its third weekend of release.
In its attempt to never, ever leave the top five, Warner Bros.' The Hangover remains the audience favorite with $10.4 million against a tiny fifth weekend drop of 39 percent and a domestic total that has now crossed the $200 million mark.
In limited release action, Sony Pictures Classics’ Woody Allen comedy Whatever Works added another 320 theaters and jumped into the top 15, a rare feat for an Allen comedy. The film starring Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood, has earned just over $2 million in three weeks and looks to have a strong run as word-of-mouth continues to propel the film. Summit’s The Hurt Locker also continues to impress with $126,000 in its second weekend, a mere 13 percent drop and an impressive $14,000 per-theater.
A squeaker of a weekend in many respects as the top two films battle it out for the number one spot, and we barely beat last year’s box-office overall totals for the patriotic holiday. Keep in mind that tomorrow could bring changes when the final numbers are tallied ...
THREE-DAY ESTIMATES:
1. (TIE!) NEW! Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox) - $42.5M; 4099 theaters; $10,368 PTA; $67.5 cume (five-day total)
1. (TIE!) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount/Dreamworks) - $42.5M; 4234 theaters; $10,038 PTA; -61%; $293.4M cume
3. NEW! Public Enemies (Universal) - $26.1M; 3333 theaters; $7,850 PTA; $41M cume (five-day total)
4. The Proposal (Disney) - $12.7M; 3099 theaters; $4,124 PTA; -31%; $94.2M cume
5. The Hangover (Warner Bros.) - $10.4M; 3070 theaters; $3,393 PTA; -39%; $204.1M cume
6. Up (Disney) - $6.5M; 2656 theaters; $2,477 PTA; -50%; $264.8M cume
7. My Sister's Keeper (Warner Bros.) - $5.2M; 2606 theaters; $2,017 PTA; -58%; $25.9M cume
8. The Taking of Pelham 123 (Sony/Columbia) - $2.5M; 1908 theaters; $1,310 PTA; -54%; $58.4M cume
9. Year One (Sony/Columbia) - $2.1M; 2240 theaters; $938 PTA; -65%; $38M cume
10. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Fox) - $2.1M; 1419 theaters; $1,480 PTA; -42%; $167.7M cume
MORE BOX OFFICE:
LAST WEEK'S B.O.: Transformers 2 Morphed Five Days Into $200 Million